8.3.8. WebCam module

If you are looking for a webcam module, have a look at the camPortal. See it in action at The Sceptics Hour. camPortal's highlights include:

• Advanced Admin panel

• Static or Dynamic webcam image in block (optional, see Figure 8-23)

• Categories

• Vote system (Figure 8-24)

• Comment system

• Hit counter

• Users can report broken cams

• Users can submit their cams

• Languages included: English, Spanish, Dutch, German.

You must have at least PHP-Nuke 6.5 and a newer PHP version (one that understands the _SERVER superglobal, for example) to use this module. The installation instructions are a bit outdated. In some parts, for example, they talk about "webcam", when atually it should say "camPortal" - but with knowledge of the structure of a PHP-Nuke module (see Section 21.1) you will figure it out.

To grab the images from your webcam, you can use ConquerCam. ConquerCam is a low-priced (only $10 USD), easy to use webcam manager for grabbing images from your web cam under Windows, preparing them with various effects and uploading them to your web site (where you can use camPortal to display them in PHP-Nuke). Using ConquerCam you are able to setup your computer as a security system as well, using the advanced motion detection and mail-notification system included.

ConquerCam can be customized in a variety of ways, e.g. by selecting how often you want to grab and upload images, which overlay effects you want to use (many of the well-known Adobe PhotoShop effects are available, such as Multiply or Darken) and unlimited numbers of textual captions to put on your grabbed image using a bunch of tags. Tags are replaced by dynamic data such as current date/time, WinAMP title currently playing or the Swatch Internet Time.